Earth-Quaker Leading

I have a leading; a leading is a Quaker term that means I'm called by God to do something. My leading is personal and specific and mind-boggling: I'm called to find spiritual unity with Nature. 

Unity is how we Quakers talk about our process of community discernment: In Meetings for Business we take a step beyond consensus to find spiritual unity. We have an immense belief in the reality of continued revelation - that God will give us new Light if we wait for it. God leads everyone present in unity. 

My inner voice keeps saying, "Why would we not invite Nature to be present?"

I hold that the Earth and every part of it is a living being, a spiritual being; and also that we humans are an integral part of Nature. Seeking unity with all of Creation puts us back on equal footing. 

How could this kind of Earth Unity be practiced by a community of seekers? 

Howard Brinton explained that since there is but one Light and one Truth, if the Light be faithfully followed, unity will result. He stated that the nearer the members of a group come to this one Light, the nearer they will be to one another, “as the spokes of a wheel approach each other as they near the center.” 

I believe that if we allow Nature to be a spoke on our wheel, to have a voice in our circle, and we listen as best we can to what she is saying, we will be better able to discern God's will.

Agenda:

1. Worship in discernment with the Earth

2. Season with nature

3. Take action

4. Read "The Earth path"

1. Worship in discernment with the Earth:

The way I hope to find Unity with the Earth is with discernment, the process of finding the right course of action through spiritual perception and thoughtful consideration; it's the intersection of contemplative practice and social action. If we are going to make a decision that will impact the Earth, either as an individual or as a community, we might want to include the Earth in our discernment process - and do not almost all of our decisions impact the Earth?

Our Faith and Practice says, "It is important that every meeting for discernment by a meeting, committee, or other decision-making body begin with a period of worship rather than with 'a few moments of silence,' so that the spirit of worship will pervade the transaction of business." 

I try to invite Nature to worship with me anytime I worship. I do that by acknowledging the Earth as God's creation and thanking her for giving me such a beautiful home, food, water, air to breathe - for giving me life. I start each day with that acknowledgement, and repeat it whenever I remember.

I'd like to clarify that I'm not suggesting we worship the Earth, but, rather, to invite the Earth into our worship. I'm not an expert, but I believe that much Indigenous and pagan religion has been wrongly called Nature Worship, when it is really just an acknowledgement that every tree, animal, and insect has a spirit, that humans are deeply connected to the Earth, and an inseparable, integral part of Nature.

We might experiment with an expanded meeting for worship: I found this idea in a file from Pacific Yearly Meeting.

2. Season with nature:

After worship, in my personal life as well as in our committees and meetings, thoughtful consideration commences, with talking and listening to everyone who will be impacted by an action. This is called seasoning.

One way to season an action item with the Earth is to consult science. Another is to research ways Indigenous People have acted. Yet another is to go outside and sit on the Earth and let her talk to you.

Currently I'm seasoning a multitude of ideas with Nature: A community agreement to reduce the use of plastics, next creative steps in my Climate Revolutions by Bike group, permaculture plans in my garden, my personal buying and eating habits, how to best share a love of nature with my grandson, how to best share my leadings with my community and the world...

3. Take action:

But after the worship and seasoning comes the action: When a leading takes on the power of a testimony, it's time to act. A testimony is a spiritual leading to action and a call to give, as early Quakers said, "a public profession of our religious experience and understanding of the truth". Our Testimonies are where Spirit and Action come together.

My testimony of Unity with Nature has led me to make banners and go to rallies, speak at city council meetings, join more than one climate action group, learn how to make my own dish soap so I don't have to buy another plastic bottle, and write and share about my convictions. And today I'm going to work with a group to collect trash and clean up a river.

I'm an introvert, a shy person - not an activist type - but I am a living witness for the Earth. (And you can be too!)

Wrapped up in my testimony of Unity with Nature is my deep belief in a life of simplicity, my belief that the way we are living is denying equality for those suffering the bulk of the climate disaster, and is also denying us peace around the world. All of my testimonies are demanding me to act.

4. Read "The Earth Path":

"In the dynamic web model of the world, we understand that every action or change has a myriad of effects, intended and unintended. The world is not completely knowable or controllable—it’s filled with complexities that go beyond our comprehension, with wonder and mystery. And because it is complex, because causes and effects are linked in networks rather than simple lines, the same act will not always produce the same effect. In making changes, therefore, we need to be responsible for any potential reverberations and careful not to produce large-scale damaging and/or irreversible effects. We do this by starting small, by carefully monitoring the changes we produce, and by making the least change necessary to produce a result."

I am reminded by Starhawk that even as I act, in my efforts to aid the Earth, I need to take great care. This is permaculture 101 - make the smallest change needed and monitor the results.

She goes on to explain that the myth and ritual of indigenous cultures worldwide are all tools used to maintain a balance between the human and non-human communities. My own European ancestors also honored the earth and valued cooperation, until they didn't; until the beginnings of capitalism, and the growth of the mechanistic model of the universe replaced most of their indigenous values, and the powers of the time started a war on indigenous beliefs, and on women.

I think George Fox and the other parents of Quakerism were inhibited by the fear and terror perpetrated by the church, and so they lost a chance to preserve some of their indigenous values. I could be wrong, but I don't think they would have embraced the idea of "that of God" in the bird and the beast. Starhawk says, "Since the times of the Witch persecutions, knowledge that derives from a worldview of an animate, interconnected, dynamic universe is considered suspect - either outright evil or simply woo-woo."

If we are to build a Quaker community that carries us into the future, we need to remedy that mistake.